Johanna Konta ‘quite pleased’ with herself after picking up ‘massive win’ over Elina Svitolina

Shahida Jacobs
Johanna Konta celebrates

It took her six attempts, but Johanna Konta finally has a win next to her name in her head-to-head against Elina Svitolina after coming from a set down to beat the Ukrainian at the Canadian Open.

Konta, playing in her first tournament since being forced to miss the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for the coronavirus, overcame a slow start to defeat the third seed 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Olympics bronze medallist Svitiolina raced into a 3-0 lead after breaking early and, although the British No 1 broke back in game seven, she broke again in game eight.

The lone break in the second set came in game eight as Konta took it to a decider, which she dominated with two breaks.

“That was definitely not an easy match. I’ve never beaten her in my career, so for me personally, this was a massive win,” Konta told WTAtennis.com.

“She’s probably the toughest player for me on tour, so I’m quite pleased with myself.”

She added: “I think the most important thing is to play with what you have and keep trying to find the little bits that you can fo better during the match

“That, by no means, was a perfect match from me or from her, but it was just about playing what we had. I was just able to find the solutions at the right time.”

The world No 41 will face teenager Coco Gauff for a place in the quarter-final after the 15th seed advanced when Russian qualifier Anastasia Potapova retired with the score 5-0 in favour of the American.

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Meanwhile, top seed Aryna Sabalenka opened her campaign with a 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-4 victory over Sloane Stephens.

“It was a tough match and she played so well. She pushed me like crazy in this match and I don’t know actually how I won this won this one,” the Belarusian said.

“I’m really happy with this win. I was already in the locker room thinking what was going to happen next – doubles here, planning for the next weeks. I don’t know if that’s why I cooled down, and I was just playing and didn’t think about anything else.”

Sabalenka will face Rebecca Marino next after the Canadian wildcard beat Paula Badosa 1-6, 7-5, 6-4.

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